


Daenerys Targaryen - The Hero of the other Side

by Dreamy Moon (IlargiZuri)



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Meta
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-22
Updated: 2019-01-24
Packaged: 2019-06-14 12:40:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 17,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15388956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IlargiZuri/pseuds/Dreamy%20Moon
Summary: Season two of Daenerys dark Journey.





	1. Staffel 1 - Khaleesi

I would like you to show now why I think that Daenerys Tagaryen is one of the best antagonists of all time. Therefore, I’m going to show her actions which can be described as dubious in chronicle order. I will make comparisons to these dubious actions from arts, culture and history, which underline my opinion.

Before I start, I want to say that that everybody can have his/her own opinion, I don’t want to convince anyone to so see it like me. Those who see Daenerys as a hero, from my point of view, are simply on the other side. Just like George R.R. Martin says on this subject: "A villain is a hero of the other side." I just want to show the loyal fans of Dany how one can see her as an antagonist and be a fan of her at the same time.

To begin with season 1, in which I do not list all her actions, as she has as Khal Drogos wife had only as much power as he allowed her to use.

Daenerys is 16 years old and is married to Khal Drogo at the beginning of the series. This marriage is part of an agreement with Khal Drogo to aid Daenerys’ brother. Khal Drogo’s army will help Viserys Targaryen regain the Iron Throne. Daenerys is shown as a shy, submissive and scared young woman, who is abused by her brother. Daenerys changes a lot during the first season and begins to stand up to her brother. She uses her influence on her husband and convinces him to regain the Iron Throne for her son. Once her husband and unborn child dies, Daenerys decides to make her claim for the Iron Throne for herself.  
This happens all in one season, which I want to jump over , because Daenerys does not have any power but the power Khal Drogo gives her. The use of the season was to lull us so that we can see the choices that she makes from her perspective rather than the outside perspective of others (for example: how the Tarlys will react to her or the rest of Westeros as well as Essos).


	2. Warlocks and Operas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Season two of Daenerys dark Journey.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope my English is understandable, if not please leave some Comments, Questions or some Critic.

In Season 2 we can follow Daenerys when she tries to get support for her Conquest. But in Qarth she only gets marriage proposals and it seems like no one takes her   
serious. But we learn very soon that nobody underestimates her enthusiasm, instead they think that her Chances of success are very low, for understandable reasons.

At some Point a Warlock kidnaps her Dragons and a part of her Khalassar is killed. Although I do have a very clear opinion when Daenerys burns someone to death, this is the only exception I make. The Warlock took her Dragons because they are a power source for his Magic. When she is in his House, standing in front of him, he is stronger than usual. She herself is in Chains, alone and has no magic Skills. I don’t see any other possibility for her to rescue herself and her Dragons.

But after that, she returns to the House of her Host and finds him and her Maid sleeping in his Bed. Together they go to her Hosts Vault. In a previous Episode, when her Host proposed to her, we learned that this Vault is very safe. After Daenerys opens it, we see that it is empty. After her Discovery she locks her Host and her former Maid in there.

When I saw that scene for the first time I thought that it looked very familiar. Finally, I found out why, a Pair that is locked under a Building, is the final Scene of the Opera „Aida“. The Scene is very similar, but in Aida only the Man is punished for Treason by his rightful King, the Pharaoh. Aida follows this Man into Death because she loves him and feels guilty, because he is punished for a Crime she tricked him into it. That the Pharaoh doesn’t punishes Aida has a very simple reason, no one knows that she is there and furthermore she is a Slave and worked as a Spy for her King. As a Spy she never betrayed Egypt and therefore could stay alive or die without the suffering her Lover has to face. But she sneaks into that Chamber an is buried alive with him.

Although the Setting and the Characters are different the similarities are so big, that I started to ask myself: Which Right has Daenerys to judge her Host?  
Her Maid is Part of her Khalassar, so it is her right and Duty to judge her. But her Host is not a Dothraki, even when he did commit murder and killed the thirteen. It is not Daenerys responsibility to judge him, he is a citizen of Qarth and therefore Daenerys has no rights to judge him. His killing is an Act of Murder.  
Furthermore, here we see Daenerys vengeful side, instead to give the Order to kill these two, she locks them up in that Vault, in a manner of speaking she locks them alive. That’s a slow and cruel Death.

We should not forget that Treason is punished multiple Times in that Show, by different People and always by People who had the right to judge. Robb, Sansa, Arya, Bran, punished the People who betrayed them and even Theon is punished by Destiny when his own Man turn against him and leave him with Ramsay, who later on would torture him until he was physically and Mentally mutilated. The punishment for treason is always a literal or metaphoric Death. The Death is most of the Time appropriate for the committed Crime and its impacts. Also, normally the Traitors are punished by Judges who have all the rights and responsibility to do so. That is not the Case in Qarth. Daenerys kills her Host and thereby commits murder. After she locked the Pair up, she plundered the House, bought a ship with which she leaves Qarth. That’s the behaviour of a Khal.


	3. Astapor – How to get loyalty from Slave Soldiers or not

In Season Three Daenerys arrives in Astapor, there she wants to establish an Army, and we can watch how she manages that without any big financial values or powerful Supporters.

When she trades Drogo for every Unsullied in Astapor and those who are still in Training, I wondered why she killed Kraznys Mo Nakloz. When he showed her around he insulted her constantly, he is a cruel and unfriendly Man, but that’s not why she burned him alive, neither is it her desire to free the Slaves. The Reason she killed that Man is simple, she didn’t want to trade Drogo. It was a Trick, which makes Daenerys a Cheater. But besides the fact that she planned to kill that Man since her offer to exchange her Dragon, here we see her burn someone for the first Time who didn’t wronged or betrayed her or is part of her khalasar, if someone could say she did kill her Host in Qarth because of vengeance, this is a cold-blooded Murder. Instead, she wrongs him and kills many People without any Consequences because of One Reason: She is the strongest. And the right of the stronger is the right which is directly connected with holding of Slaves. Before Slavery was a transaction-based trade, war prisoners were used to provide a stock of slaves, because the People believed it was the right of the strong to rule the Weak. This was practiced in many Cultures even during our modern Times. Since 1981 Slavery is deemed to be forbidden worldwide, unfortunately that doesn’t mean that it isn’t practiced any more, it just means in most Countries of the World it is forbidden by Law.

Which makes Tyrions Statement to Daenerys in Season 7 Episode 6 very prophetic:

_„But the World you want to build, doesn’t get build all at once.“ -_ Tyrion, Season 7, Episode 6.

Daenerys Way with violent Force does accomplish her Goal of abolishing Slavery for a short amount of Time. If she wants it for a long Term, she needs to stay in Essos. She needs to awake the Will for the change and to educate the Children that Slavery is bad. That was it, what accomplished the abolishment of Slavery in our World, that and the humanism, which brought us the knowledge that all Men are equal. The consequent execution of that Philosophy, which exists since nearly 500 years, is not accomplished until today.

Her Ambitions and Motivations aside, her intention is foredoomed. First the Woman and Children from Astapor, which she spared during her sack of Astapor, see her as an Aggressor and an Invader. Also, these Women will continue to teach their Children that Slavery is something natural, an Order to rule, the strong over the weak. Which probably will have the Result, that they will holding Slaves. When Daenerys gives the Order „to kill every Master, every Man who holds a Whip.“ she does this because she can, and she wants to impress her new Soldiers. By killing the Masters and freeing them after that, she gains an Army who follows her because they choose her.

When we talk about Slavery, we most of the Time we talk about Human trafficking, which is the reason why Jorah had to flee to Essos. But in our Dictionaries Slavery is described as follows: _„A person who is the legal property of another and is forced to obey them. A device, or part of one, directly controlled by another. A person who is excessively dependent upon or controlled by something.“_ And in the Oxford Dictionary you can find the Word _Thrall_ which is described as an archaic Synonym for Slave. Thralls exist in Westeros, they live everywhere on the Countryside and get controlled by their Lords. To be precisely, every single Soldier, who was killed on the Field of Fire 2.0 was as thrall. Which means according to the Oxford Dictionary I am not wrong when I say: Daenerys killed Slaves.

Thralls are just allowed the freedoms their Landlord granted them, most of the time that was independent Decision-making, as long as it worked in benefit for their Lord; they were allowed to make a certain amount of Money in Order to maintain their duties, which was most of the Time for their Living in the House the Landlord gave to them, and they were always in Danger to be banished from that exactly House. Which meant a Family could be in the Poorhouse for the simple Reason of a bad harvest and their Lord decided to give their Land, Home and Duties to someone else.

So Daenerys doesn’t want to abolish Slavery, she just wanted a Loyal Army.

In Season Seven she forced People into her service. Maybe it is good that the Unsullied were not at the Field of Fire to see what happened there. Yes Randyll Tarly was an unfriendly and hard Person, but he was also a Husband and Father. He was loyal to Cersei because he believed that she had more right to rule and maybe he also feared that her Horrible Suggestions would come true. When I say Cerseis Suggestions, I mean this Speech of her:

_„With their Help the Mad Kings Daughter has ferried an army of Savages to our shores. Mindless Unsullied Soldiers who will destroy your castles and your Holdfasts. Dothraki heathens who will burn your villages to the ground, rape and enslave your women and butcher your children without a second thought. [...] You will remember the Mad King, you remember the horrors he inflicted upon his People his daughter is no different in Essos her brutality is already legendary. She crucified hundreds of noblemen in Slavers Bay and when she grew bored of that, she fed them to her Dragons.“ -_ Cersei, Season 7, Episode 2. _  
_

Imagine you hear these things and have a Wife and Daughter at Home and fear for their safety. You would probably do the same as Tarly did.

But all that Soldiers behind Tarly were just his or Jaimes Thralls, no Lords or Sons of Lords. Daenerys gave the Unsullied a true Choice.

_„Unsullied! You have been Slaves all your life. Today you are free. Any Man who wishes to leave may leave and no one will harm him. I give you my Word. Will you fight for me? As free Man?“ -_ Daenerys, Season 3, Episode 4.

Why didn’t she gave the same Choice to the Soldiers of Westeros? Unlike in Astapor, now she has an Army, one of the Largest ones in Westeros, if we can believe Tyrions Statement in Episode 4 of Season 7. It is simple, unlike in Astapor her Success doesn’t depend any longer on that, that her Soldiers chose her willingly, their Loyalty isn’t anything she needs any longer, which is WHY Tyrions Words again are highly Prophetic:

_„Yes, you need to be ruthless if you going to win the Throne. You need to inspire a degree of fear, but fear is all Cersei has, is all my Father had, Joffrey. It makes their Power brittle, because everyone beneath them, longs to see them dead.“ -_ Tyrion, Season 7, Episode 6.

These Soldiers fear her, they are forced to join her and fight for her, unlike the Unsullied all they want is gonna go home. Like in Astapor she acts on the right of the Strong, but now her Targets are the People she wants to rule. This Method to rule won’t get her the Iron Throne for long, if at all. Her Actions inspire fear, not wonder and awe as she hopes, the People fear her and like the Harpys in Meereen they will want to see her dead.

In conclusion the Sack and burning of Astapor showed us how she had to act in Westeros, as an example how she probably will fail in Westeros. Because she forgot how she gained the Love and Loyalty of the Slves, in Westeros the Common folk, they loved her because she freed them, but now, and then she is acting like a Master and that will cost her their sympathy and maybe it will cost her Life as well. When she will still insist on her Position, which she showed first in this burning of the Master in Astapor, and later putted it into Words:

_„They can live in my new World, or they can die in their Old one.“_ \- Daenerys, Season 4, Episode 7.


	4. Athenian Democracy in Essos?

The next Town on Daenerys Journey is Yunkai. Yunkai doesn’t sell Slave Soldiers, like Astapor, they sell Bedslaves. That of course they send a mediator, to offer her Gold and Ships, if she leaves Yunkai in Peace. But Daenerys accepts the Gold in exchange for the Life of the Mediator. After the negotiation failed, the wise Masters of Yunkai hiring an army of mercenaries. Daenerys achieves that they fight for her and Yunkai is taken without Fire.

Yunkai isn’t just special because the City is taken without burning People, but for a different Reason. The Show doesn’t specify how the Government in Yunkai is organized and the Fans think, according to the Fan-Organized Wiki-page it is ruled by an Oligarchy, but I don’t think it truly is. An Oligarchy would mean only the richest of the Rich would rule, like in Meereen. In the Books we learn that the Wise Masters, as they are called, are the ruling Class of Yunkai and as it seems that ruling Class involves every single Person who is born in Yunkai, is not a Child and still living there. And that’s not an Oligarchy it is an Athenian Democracy. Named after the City who was ruled by that kind of Democracy in the Ancient World, Athen. The Senat was build from all free Men of the City who were born there and over thirty years old. That means all Women, Slaves, Immigrants and Men under thirty were not allowed. Some Archaeologists think that the Senate of Ancient Athen was around 30000 members big. Every public and military Office was organised by these Men. That kind of Government was the Democracy Aristoteles and Platon knew, that Men are known as the fathers of modern Democracy, and they were able to create their Theories and Ideas of Democracy because in Athen existed that Ancient Version of Democracy. And without official statements that the Show is different from the Books, we should assume that Yunkai in the Show has the same Government as in the Books.

So in Yunkai exists a Government, which is a preform of our modern Society and our modern Society was possible because People like Aristoteles and Platon were able to criticize that Government, they recognized the flaws in their ruling Class and the Way they ruled. It should be also important to mention that both of them were not against Slavery.

I think that the modern governmental Form of Democracy doesn’t exist yet in Essos or Westeros. And because of Daenerys, the invention of that governmental Form will have to wait a few years longer. Because Daenerys conquered Slavers Bay the Problems of their Society came to light. Problems that were already there, but the ruling Class had the Luxury to ignore them. And because of Daenerys they have a Scapegoat they can blame for their Problems. These Problems are: high unemployment, increasing crime and economic stagnancy. These Problems are not made by Daenerys, it was the short Term thinking and economic speciality of Slavers Bay, which caused these Problems. They just came to the surface because of her.

But none of the People of Slavers Bay will think that the Problems existed before Daenerys came to Slavers Bay and Conquered it Cities, they think it is Daenerys fault and her decision to be the Queen of Slavers Bay. Again, as long as it isn’t confirmed that the Show-Version of Yunkai and Slavers Bay in general is different from the Book-Version we should assume that these Versions are the same. Which means, according to the Books, in Slavers Bay didn’t exist a Monarchy for more than a thousand years.

In Order for an idea to evolve, like the modern Democracy evolved from the Athenian Democracy, it must be criticised. People who see the Problems of that governmental Form must think about the Problems of the Society in which they live. Just like Aristoteles and Platon did.

But because Slavers Bay has a Scapegoat that won’t happen. Daenerys conquered Slavers Bay and reinstalled the Monarchy, with her as Queen and a Council she chose to council her. That’s the classic Version of Monarchy and it is understandable that the People of Slavers Bay rebelled against her, she took the Power away from the Masters, and they didn’t liked it. Because Daenerys changed everything in Slavers Bay, even the government, she actually acted a bit, like the medieval Church. In the early modern Times, the Church tried to prevent a change in Society, by hunting and destroying those who would change the World. More than thousands of Men, Women and Children died in the Fires of the Church. Just because they tried to preserve the Power they had. In the Version of George R. R. Martins Books, we can see what happens if its changing to fast. Change isn’t something that comes quickly, it is something that needs the Will for Change, education and sometimes an Idea has to fail in Order to evolve.

But the Society of Slavers Bay never had the Chance to fail by its own, Daenerys came and brought change with her brutal Force; so it actually falls because of its own faults, but the Society can’t recognize that, because they have a Scapegoat. So without recognizing their errors, they will return to their old Ways. Daenerys is back in Westeros and as an old saw says: _Out of Sight, out of Mind_. Daenerys can’t control them when she is on the other Side of the World and Daario Naharis is a Mercenary. As he said, he doesn’t care for Meereen or the Dragon Bay, he was there and fought because of her. After Daenerys broke up with him, it is more than likely that he will accept a certain amount of Money from the Masters of Slavers Bay and leave the Cities for good.

And the Masters can return to their Business in Slave trade, they won’t change their Ways, just because a Woman, who maybe has three Dragons, is on the other End of World. As long as there is a market for Slaves in Essos, it is possible that these Masters will trade slaves again. Their Old Ways are full of errors, but these Old Ways include the Athenian Democracy and without allowing them to fail by their own, there will possibly never be a Democracy in Essos or Westeros.


	5. Meereen – As you sow so will you reap

After she conquered Astapor and Yunkai, the last City in Slavers Bay is Meereen. On her Way she sees 163 Children Crucified. After she conquered Meereen with Stratagem she orders to Crucify 163 Masters of Meereen and decides to live in the great Pyramid.

Her reaction of the Crucifixion of 163 Children and how she tries to bring Justice to the Slaves of Meereen is understandable every Person would want to punish the responsible People for such an inhuman crime. But I can not accept how she acts against the Masters.

According to the Books and the Show, Meereen is ruled by an oligarchy. That Means, the richest People of Meereen are the Men in Power. And according to the Show and how it is presented to us, by the example of Hizdahr zo Loraq, every Family is ruled by their Family head. So in Conclusion the Family Heads of the richest Families are the responsible People of that Crime, they ordered to crucify 163 Children. But how many People are responsible in that Case? According to the Books, the richest Families live in the Pyramids, in the Books it is not described how many Pyramids exist in Meereen, although the Book mentions 15 Families who own a Pyramid. So at least 15 People are responsible, in the Show we only see 6 Pyramids, which could mean, only 6 Men responsible. By in both Cases, Daenerys doesn’t punish 6 or 15 People, she sentenced 163 Masters to death. Which means she acts again by the right of the Strong and out of Vengeance, not because she wants Justice.

Additional we should remember, WHY these Masters killed these Children. They did it, because they knew that Daenerys was coming to Meereen, and they were afraid. They heard what happend in Astapor and Yunkai and tried to frighten her. They hoped that she wouldn’t come to Meereen. It didn’t work that Way, and their fears came true.

Selmy warned her not to judge the Masters to harsh and to fast, when he said:

_„The City is yours. All these People are your Subjects now. Sometimes it is better to answer injustice with Mercy.“_ – Barristan Selmy, Season 4 Episode 4.

Daenerys cruelty against mostly innocent People, her short-sightedness and Unforgiveness brought her, the Sons of the Harpy. They wanted Revenge for the dead Masters, their Familyheads, and bring back the Old Ways. As I said before, their Old ways are full of errors, but they don’t see it, and Daenerys is a perfect Scapegoat for them. Daenerys vengeful and violent Way only brought her Vengeance and Violence.

The Sons of the Harpy are a Group of Rebels, but when do Humans rebel?

It is actually quite simple, Humans rebel when they feel queasy and think they have to do something against that. But not always when the People have miserable Lives they rebel against their governments and Rulers. All big Rebellions, from America to France and Russia, all happend when the People did realize their Life is miserable. As long as they have distractions, People don’t rebel. And with Daenerys rule, these Distractions vanished. The Masters felt how bad their Lives are and decided that Daenerys must go!

Daenerys is not a Hero, she is just like the Masters, but instead to ally herself with the rich Masters, she allied with the Slaves. Not because she has a Problem with Slavery, but the Slaves are the majority, it is like the High Sparrow said in Season 5 Episode 7:

_„A lifetime of wealth and Power left you blind in One Eye. You are the few, we are the Many. And when the many stop fearing the few...“_

Daenerys acts on that Philosophy, she made sure that the Slaves realized they have Power, because they outnumber the Masters. That’s why she told them her Journey through Slavers Bay. To give them Hope.

But Daenerys acts like a Master, which means she isn’t any better than them. She isn’t worse either, she is the same.

But there is another Problem with her, as I mentioned earlier, the modern governmental Form of Democracy doesn’t exist yet. And Daenerys reinstalls a Monarchy in Essos with her as Queen. She has a Council, which tries to council her, but somehow they fail to do so or Daenerys doesn’t listen to them.

For example, yes she agrees to give the Son of the Harpy a proper Trial, but after that Man is killed she again forgets to hold a trial, instead she announced the death sentence and let it carried out openly. Many People say that Jon and Ned did the same.

And I agree to a certain degree, but there are a few important differences. Ned beheaded a Deserter from the Nights Watch, means his Guilt is proven. He was a known Criminal who chose the Black instead of Death. The Deserter even said that he knew he broke his Vows and that he knew the punishment for that. He didn’t ask for forgiveness or Mercy, he accepted his Punishment. Don’t forget to take the Black is an equivalent to banishment, if you broke an Exile in our modern Days, you would go to Prison or be sentenced to death, it depends on in which Country you live. And a trial is needed if the Society has to be convinced that a Culprit deserves punishment. The Society of Westeros, as you can see in Ned’s and Jon’s Case with the Deserter and Janos Slynt, doesn’t have to be convinced. That’s different in Daenerys Case, as you can see when the Slaves start to hiss at her and attack her.

But why is it important that Daenerys doesn’t listen to her Advisers? The Feudal Form of Government is very simple and is based on Trust. You trust a Ruler that he will always rule in your favour and in exchange you give up all your independence, that’s only the basic, in reality it was much more complicated, but for the understanding of my Point, it isn’t necessary to understand Feudalism in its totality. If you can’t trust a Ruler, you have to know and trust one of his Friends or Advisers. That’s the Reason why the North didn’t rebel after the Mad King was killed and Robert Baratheon was King, they trusted Ned Stark. We all know what happend after Roberts Death, Ned’s Death and after the death of all Boltons, a new Northern Rebellion. And Jon even said this on Dragonstone and Daenerys didn’t listen, as nearly every time someone says something she doesn’t want to hear.

When she executed Mossador in Public, without a Trial, which would be necessary to convince the People of Meereen that Mossador deserves punishment, the former Slaves lost their trust into Daenerys. And more important they also lost their trust into her advisers, because ALL of her advisers stand behind her at that Moment, advisers in feudalism were always chosen People, but chosen by the King not by an Election. So when the hole Council of Daenerys stood behind her, during that Execution and no one spoke in favour for Mossador, they showed the People of Meereen that they supported her decision, her Judgement. If you can’t trust a ruler in feudalism that he or she will stay true to his Word, which he or her gave you, when you gave up your independence for his Protection and Support, that is simply tyranny.

In Conclusion, Daenerys needs support from the People and this People need to have trust in her or someone who do advise her. And without that we have simple a Tyranny in Essos. Which is actually worse than the Oligarchy and the Athenian Democracy which existed for Centuries before Daenerys conquered Slavers Bay.

So you could say, that the Sons of the Harpy are in some Way a rebellion of Democracy against Monarchy or Tyranny. A rebellion like this, happend in British History as well, when Charles I. tried to establish an absolutistic Monarchy in England, the outcome was a Civil War and later the Military dictatorship with Oliver Cromwell.  
Some People think that Daenerys Council is a Form of Democracy, but as I already said, her Advisors are chosen by her and not because the People elected them.

Even absolutistic Rulers in our History had Advisors and those People were meant to help them in the favour of the Country, but unfortunately most of the Time they were either incompetent, acted only for their own favour or only told the Rulers what they wanted to hear. Sometimes the Rulers even threatened their Advisors if they didn’t act as the Rulers wanted it. Daenerys does both in Season Seven, first she threatens Varys, and she ignores Tyrions Council, even after Jon practically said the same thing.

Daenerys Way of Vengeance, Violence and her understanding of Justice is the reason why Meereen became the Battlefield of the Harpies. After Daenerys left and Meereen became successful, the Masters knew that there is a Way of a World without Slavery. That’s why they attacked Meereen, but it wasn’t Daenerys solution who frightened them, because Meereen wasn’t a success under her Rule, it was Tyrions Solution. He spoke with the Masters, instead of killing them, he underestimated them, but that’s not the Point. It was his Solution to offer something and gave them Time so that they could replace the forbidden Slave Trade with something new. He told them that there is more to trade then Slaves and in Meereen that was successful.

So actually they fear Tyrions Solution, but they still want to go back to their old Ways. Which is why I got the Notion, that they will try that again and this time they could be successful. Daenerys stops the Attack against Meereen with her Dragons and Grey Worm kills two of the Masters who came to discuss terms of surrender, he lets the third live to tell the Story what happend in Meereen.

Which could result in a short time when the People of the Dragon Bay, will fear that Daenerys will come back, but in the End they will realize that she is gone and left a Mercenary in Charge. Daario said to Daenerys that he stays with her because he loves her, he is not interested in Peace, that’s not what he is good at. He is good with Women and with War. It’s only a Matter of Time until the Masters realize that Daenerys won’t come back and Daario has nothing in Meereen to hold him there. The Masters will pay him, so that he and the Second Sons will leave Meereen. After that, they will return to their old Ways. As I said, the Way for abolition is not Vengeance and Violence, it is education and the Will for Change. So Daenerys attempt of abolition will end like the French Revolution, after a short-lived Republic, they returned to Monarchy.

Translated into our Case in Slavers Bay: After a short Time of abolition, the Masters will return to trading Slaves.


	6. Westeros – Conquering with Molotow and Ribbentropp

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We come to an End with the Seasons so far and weget to the Point where Daenerys isn't the Heroine, but more the ambitious Conqueror like Aegon Targaryen, just a little bit more naive, so naive I am tempted to call it stupid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If someone has a better Idea for the Title please let me know in the Comments. I am so unhappy with that Chapter-Title.

After six Season Daenerys finally arrived in Westeros, in her ancestral Home on Dragonstone. So many Fans were excited and hoped that she would conquer Westeros fast and that the Rest of the very few Episodes would only focus on the White Walker and the Night King. But we got a Disaster.

Because Tyrion knew that his Sister would use the Xenophobia of the Lords of Westeros to rally them behind her, he tried a different Strategy and wanted to use Soldiers from Westeros. Unfortunately he underestimated Cersei and more importantly Jaime. In this Season we see how Jaime evolved as a Military Man, and that he learned from other Strategies how to be successful in War.

But the most anticipated Moment of the hole Series happened, Jon Snow meeting Daenerys Targaryen. It didn’t wend as well, as many Fans hoped.

First of all, Daenerys tries to impress Jon with all her Titles which are announced by Missandei. When she did that in Essos, it was acceptable because not everyone in Essos spoke the Common Tongue, but in Westeros everyone does and so it is now clearly her try to distance herself from him. During the hole Season she tries to bring him on his Knees. He refuses, and she is stubborn and insist that she needs a Truce with Cersei before she can help him, from a Strategic Point I can say: No she doesn’t, but that’s a Topic for later.

For now, it is important that she tries to bring him to the Point that he subordinates to her. But how does she do this? Not like in Essos, where she talked about the cruelty of the Masters and promised a better World, she talks about the Past and specially the Starks don’t have the best Memories of the Targaryens who were on the Throne. The Situation isn’t going anywhere for none of them, Jon doesn’t want to kneel and Dany doesn’t want to help, she just wants the Iron Throne.

How the Northerners look upon the Targaryens was shown to us more than one Time. First in the First Season, where Lord Jon “Great Jon“ Umber said:

 _„It was the Dragons we bowed too and the Dragons are Dead!“_ — Jon “Great Jon“ Umber, Season 1 Episode 10.

Which implies it was never loyalty, sympathy or faith that led to Torren Starks kneeling, it was something else. It was the fact that Torren was a good King and didn’t want his People burned for nothing, for a lost Cause. They feared the Targaryens and their Dragons and saw them for what they were, Invaders.

Before Jon travels to Dragonstone we are reminded how the Northerners and some Southern Lord view the Targaryens.

 _„Your Grace with respect, I agree with Lady Sansa. I remember the Mad King all too well. A Targaryen can not be trusted, nor can a Lannister.“_ — Lord Yohn Royce, Season 7, Episode 2.

So when Jon warned Daenerys that his People woundn’t accept a Southern Ruler after all they had to suffer, he knows what he is talking about. But Daenerys doesn’t listen again. And instead of thinking how she could get the support of these Lords, like she did in Essos, where she were able to gain the Support of the Slaves, she thinks it is enough if Jon bends the Knee. That is naive, different from Torren Stark, whom she mentioned because he knelt, Jon is not in the North, he has no possibility to talk to the other Lords. And as I already mentioned, the Show itself mentioned that the North knelt because of the Dragons, NOT because they thought Aegon is a great King. I am sure Torren did explain his decision with the Lords, otherwise the Lords would rebel against him and that would cause only more trouble, war and death. Jon doesn’t have this chance. Her explained the Lords why he had to go to Dragonstone and in the End they excepted. Now he doesn’t have the chance to do so. Which means he knows exactly that they drive into a metaphorical Storm and that’s not the Nightsking.

But when she finally gives in and promises Jon to fight by his Side, first she does it for the wrong Reason and second she doesn’t take it as her Priority. First of all, her Reason is Vengeance, she said it herself.

 _„The Dragons Are My Children. They Are the only Children I’ll ever have, do you understand?“ —_ Daenerys, Season 7, Episode 6.

We see her as a Mother who grieves for the death of one of her Children. I don’t say it isn’t a reliable Reason for her, to join Jon’s Cause. Every Mother will understand why Daenerys wants to avenge the Death of her Dragon. For the first Time since Season 1 I could understand her Motivation, I don’t judge her because of that. But it is still the wrong Reason. Revenge never gives you what you want, it only leads to more suffering, I don’t quote Star Wars at this Point, more likely the Bible Matthew 5 Verse 38-44:

_„You have heard that it was said, ‚An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.‘ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you. You have heard that it was said, ‚You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.‘ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, [...]“_

For now, I want to focus on the Fact that she doesn’t prioritize this Cause. One of her precious Children is dead, and she is IN the North, with her remaining Dragons, all she had to do is to call her remaining Soldiers to her. She saw the Nightsking, she lost a Dragon, one of her beloved Children, and she doesn’t prioritize that! If that had been the Nightsking, killing Daenerys Human Child, and she would decide to sail South to get a Truce with Cersei, more People would have been offended at that. But we are talking about gigantic, flying and fire breathing Dinosaurs, which only exists in fictional Universes like Westeros. Daenerys subordinates at this Moment the Death of her Child under her goal to claim the Iron Throne. She said it herself in the Dragon Pit:

 _“You were right from the Beginning, if I trusted you everything would be different. [so what now?] I can’t forget what I saw North of the Wall. And I Can’t pretend that Cersei Won’t Take back half the Country, the moment I march North.“ —_ Daenerys Season 7, Episode 7.

Now I will tell you the Issues I have with that Statement and with her Meeting with Cersei in General and why I totally believe that Tyrion will betray her. First of all, Daenerys tells us over and over again, that the Dragons are her Children. Now one of her Children is Dead, what is she doing? Sailing South, because she needs a Truce, because she fears that Cersei will take back half the Country when she marches North.

First of all: Which Half? If she means Dorne, they don’t have a Central Ruler at the Moment. All Martells are dead and Ellaria Sand is a Captive of Cersei at the Moment. So even IF the other Lords of Dorne want to help Daenerys, they won‘t because the only Person which comparable to House Martell is propably one of Oberyns eight Daughters, which were mentioned by Oberyn in Season 4 Episode 5, specially this one:

 _“The Fifth is difficult. I named her after my Sister, Elia. [Useful Name] Yes, but I can’t say it without turning sad and after I turned sad, there grew Angry.“ —_ Oberyn Season 4, Episode 5.

And she, according to the Books, is one of Ellarias Daughters and I doubt that she would bring her Mother in Danger.

Then there is the Reach, Daenerys fought to get it back, but at the Moment the two People who are possibly in Charge is Lord Tarlys Wife and his only Heir and I don’t mean Samwell Tarly who is a member of the Nights Watch and therefore gave up all his rights as an Heir to House Tarly, I mean his Daughter Talla. I doubt that these two will support Daenerys after she burned Lord Randyll Tarly and Dickon. So even if they do not support Daenerys, I think it is safe to say that they will hold their Army back.

The Vale is on Sansas Side, so that Part of Westeros is under a total different alliance. The Riverlands maybe don’t want to take a Side at the Moment, reasonable after what happened last Time. And the Iron Islands are at the Moment under Eurons Control. So after the fact that Daenerys didn’t rescue Yara and her Brother has to do it by himself, it is more than possible that they could switch Sides or leave Daenerys and her Cause alone.

Daenerys behavior maybe could result that her surviving allies leave her. Also, the Actor of Jon Snow was seen, when he and Cersei’s Actress were filming in Croatia. On the same Spot where the Actress and the Actor of Jaime Lannister were Filming for Season 7 in 2016. So whatever the purpose of these two looking at the Sea is, I doubt it is Yara who comes to Daenerys Aid and that Jon Snow is with Cersei doesn’t look so good either about his and Daenerys alliance.

So in Conclusion, Daenerys isn’t so interested in failing Allies, she seems not interested in saving any of them. She wants their Help and promises whatever they want, but it seems she gives nothing back. That is the same behavior she demonstrated in Essos, since Season 2. That’s not the behavior that would have helped her, without her Dragons. Her Dragons are the only Reason why she is successful, because without them, the People will act like they did in Meereen and rebel.

My second Problem with this Meeting is: It is a military and strategic Suicide!  
What does Daenerys get from it? A Truce, which Cersei plans to break, given, Daenerys doesn’t know that, but Tyrion should be skeptical. It is very suspicious for me that Tyrion doesn’t say anything and seemingly even trusts Cersei that she will hold on to this promise she made in the Dragon Pit.

But more important what does Daenerys loose with that Meeting? She gaves away the dimension of her Army, her cavalry and that she only has two dragons. And that is what Cersei gets from this Meeting, very useful strategic Information. She knows that there is indeed a threat in the North, which will probably weaken her Enemies. She knows how many Soldiers she needs for her Army to win the War for the Iron Throne, she knows that one of the Dragons is either seriously injured or dead.

I am sure that it was her Plan all the time to send Euron away to get the Golden Company when she has the Information about Daenerys Army. So besides the Fact that Cersei not only got what she wanted, she also can set a Trap for her Enemies, by promising her Army to march North she gaves them Hope, that Help will arrive, I doubt that Sansa will fall into this Trap like Daenerys, who trusts Tyrion. Everything Cersei did during this Meeting was planned. Even Eurons early leaving was planned, not because of the Proof of the Danger which is behind the Wall. As I said earlier, this hole Meeting is strategic Suicide, Daenerys gives away all Information about her military strength and gets nothing. But Cersei agreed to this Meeting because she knew Tyrion would come with ALL of Daenerys Soldiers and her Dragons, she did set this Trap right from the Beginning. And that this is a Trap, is already mentioned by Daenerys and Tyrion, although, he didn’t saw it. The Trap is mentioned here:

 _„And right now she’s thinking, about to set a Trap.“ – „Of course she is. And she’s wondering what trap you laying for her.“ —_ Daenerys and Tyrion Season 7, Episode 6.

Unfortunately no one seems to think that Cerseis Trap is the most obvious thing. Find out more information about your Enemy, specially your Enemy’s military Strength.

In some Way it is the Westerosian equivalent of the Molotow-Ribbentrop-Pact of 1939. When Nazi Germany and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics agreed to neutrality during all of Germany’s acts of War, it was followed by a German-Soviet Commercial Agreement, which provided Germany with the raw materials for their machinery of War. It is Ironic, because if anyone at that Time had read Hitlers Book „Mein Kampf“ everyone in Soviet Russia would have known that you can’t trust Hitler, he wrote it down, that he planned to attack Russia. We know how that War ended and I leave it you to decide who is who in this Westerosian Equivalent.

My last issue with this Meeting is simple that she thinks it is necessary. It isn’t! First of all, she doesn’t get anything out of it. Second, Cersei gets everything she needs to win the War and lastly, she prioritizes her selfish desire for the Iron Throne above her dead Child and the fate of all humanity!

We see during that Season that Daenerys begins to fall for Jon, but she also recognizes that he doesn’t fall for her!

 _„Jon Snow is not in Love with me!“_ — Daenerys, Season 7 Episode 6.

But not even Love can make her forget the Iron Throne, she makes stupid Things for Love, just like the Men she mentioned in that discussion with Tyrion. And that costs her one of her Dragons. She loves her Dragons more than anything and not even that can make her forget the Iron Throne. So in my Opinion she is obsessed with that great, ugly, uncomfortable Piece of seating furniture, just like Cersei.

But enough about the Meeting, at last I want to talk about Daenerys and her new Advisor, Tyrion. Yes Tyrions Plans never worked in this Season, but that’s mostly because he had not all information. He didn’t know that Cersei had come to some kind of agreement with Euron, that’s why they lost Dorne and Yaras Ships. He couldn’t imagine that Jaime would accept to lose Casterly Rock in Order to win Highgarden and the Reach. He simply underestimated their Enemies and didn’t have all the Information. But Daenerys in her fury accused him to hold back because of his Family. And she doesn’t listen, neither to him, nor to Jon who told her to not use her Dragons. Not only against the Common Folk, but in General against the living. Never forget Jon is there because he wants her Dragons to fight along his side against the Army of the Dead, he doesn’t want more dead Bodies in Westeros than necessary, because in the End, they all could end up in said Army and serve the Nightsking.

And Daenerys behavior is similar to her behavior in Essos, where she first planned to kill all Masters in Yunkai and only after Jorah talked her out of it, she sent Hizdahr zo Loraq as her ambassador, to give the Masters a Choice. But only after Jorah talked to her and actually she didn’t listen than because her is what he said:

_„Without you there to rule Khaleesi, I fear the Masters will simply bide their time, wait for the Invaders to leave and reassert Control.“_

_„That is why I ordered Daario to execute every Master in Yunkai. The Masters tear Babies from their Mother‘s Arms, they mutilate little Boys by the thousands, they train little Girls in the Art of pleasuring old Man, they treat Men like beasts, as you said yourself.“_

_„Herding the Masters into Pens and slaughtering them by the thousands is also treating Men like Beasts. For Slaves, you freed, brutality is all they ever known. If you want them to know something else, you’ll have to show it to them.“_

_„And repay the Slavers what? Kindness? A fine, a stern warning.“ „It is tempting to see your Enemies as evil, all of them. But there is good and Bad on both Sides in every war ever fought.“_

_„Let the Priests argue over good and evil. Slavery is real! I can end it, I will end it and I will end those behind it.“_

_„I sold Man into Slavery Khaleesi.“ „And now you are helping me show them to freedom.“_

_„I wouldn’t be here to help you if Ned Stark done to me what you want to do to the Masters of Yunkai.“_ — Jorah and Danerys Season 4, Episode 7.

Jorah warned her that she could become like the People she sneers at, by acting like them. Daenerys didn’t listen and starts to act like Cersei. When she killed the Tarlys she acted like Cersei, who killed the Tyrells which led to Olenna Tyrell supporting Daenerys. Now she killed a Husband and a Son and if she didn’t take her Dothraki back to Dragonstone with her, after she destroyed the Wagons with Food, I am afraid that not only Lady Tarly and Talla have something against Daenerys claim for the Iron Throne. The Dothraki are not the Unsullied, they are a plundering Horde, the rape Women and kill children or sell them into Slavery. If Daenerys left them at the Continent, I am afraid they went back to their old Ways. Which only led to more People who are against Daenerys as Queen.

And last but not least, the Assassination of Daenerys Character in her last Scene in Season 7. No, that’s not a Joke. They destroyed a very important Part of her Character when they filmed and published the Boatsex-Scene.

Only in Season 1 someone other decided when Daenerys was touched, or she has to make Love with someone. Since that Season she decides when someone comes to her Bed or can touch her. Even in this Season we see that happen. Only when she is in the Cave with Jon, he initiates the Contact for a short Time, but she doesn’t let him come to close and her Face doesn’t look to comfortable about that contact.

When she sits at his Bedside after her Dragon died, Jon again initiates a Contact, and she refuses it, she takes her Hand back. After his promise to bend the Knee, it is her who initiates a Contact. That sends a very clear message about how this relationship should go in her opinion, in modern Language we would say, she makes it clear that she decides how they will work together, she is the Boss.

She had that kind of relationship already with Daario Naharis. She decided when they would touch each other, she decided when they would make Love with each other, and she decided when they would broke up.

But in that Scene, she doesn’t decide anything, Jon starts it all. He knocks on that Door, she steps beside. He is on Top of her and she smiles. That is Out of Character for Daenerys. Yes she is in Love, but only ONE Episode before this, she refused to let him touch her by his decision. She goes from: „I am the Boss!“ A Role she took in her relationships since Drogos Death, since her rape, to the traditional female Role in Westeros Society, where the Man decides when he and his Lady-Love are together. Her behavior in her Relationships until now was a result of her violation in Season one. She must have the feeling to be in Control, that’s the Reason why she doesn’t like it when someone starts a Contact. So by the simple fact that Jon starts this „Love-making“ possibly because he thinks he has to do it, so that she won’t run away as soon as Cersei breaks the truce, they assassinate her Character.

Of cause, you could argue that she overcame that issue with Jon, because she truly loves him, that’s okay, but if so, why did she refuse his Hand when he took it to comfort her? It wasn’t even a Kiss, it was just holding a Hand, and he was weak, he wasn’t in any kind or Way able to hurt her, but still she took away her Hand. She didn’t feel comfortable with his decision to make Contact. But she felt comfortable to start the Contact herself. It is a very important Part of Daenerys behavior and relationship with Man in general, that she initiates all kinds of relationships. Her Past with Men is the Reason, her abuse and rape by Men in Power. This is very important for her Character-Arc, it dictated a lot of her behavior with Daario and Men in General. That’s nothing that she should overcome off-screen, so it is a kind of Character Assassination, at least for me.

So in Conclusion, Daenerys Conquest so far went horribly wrong for her, but on the other Hand she does have a Point, as she said in Season 7 Episode 6.

_„Which War is won without deceit and Mass Murder?“_

_„Yes you’ll need to be ruthless if you’re going to win the throne. You’ll need to inspire a degree of fear, but fear is all Cersei has, it’s all my Father had, Joffrey. It makes their Power brittle, because everyone beneath them longs so see them dead.“_

_„Aegon Targaryen got quite a long Way on fear.“_

_„He did, but you once spoke to me about breaking the wheel, Aegon built the Wheel. If that’s the kind of Queen you want to be, how are you different from all the other tyrants that came before you?“_ — Tyrion and Daenerys Season 7, Episode 6.

I have a simple Answer to Tyrions Question, which Daenerys ignores at that Time: She is not different from all the other Tyrants that came before her and that will be the reason why he betrays her, because he will realize that Daenerys is going to become a Woman like his Sister.


	7. Speeches in Comparison

Daenerys does make a lot of Speeches in the Show, not all of them are good, but I chose some of them for a small Comparison and found a Pattern.

Her First real Speech is in Season 1 Episode 10, where she tries to convince the rest of her Husbands Khalassar to follow her and frees the slaves. However, in the Book it is made clear more than once that she doesn’t start to think of them as free People, and they on their own, still think of themselves as slaves. Unfortunately that Point didn’t make it to the Screen, mostly because it is part of Daenerys inner Monologue and thoughts, not her Actions. And we can see that Daenerys does know how to use Words to her advantage, which is probably a skill she learned from her Brother Viserys. In the Books she remembers that her Brother was until a certain point in his Life nice to her, telling her Stories about their Parents and how life would have looked like if their Family would be still the ruling Family over Westeros.

So what is a Speech in general? It is a Way to tell a story about things you, as the audience, want to hear, Politicians use that all the Time when they canvass voters. And Viserys told Daenerys a lot of Stories, we learn a little about that Stories from Daenerys when she convinces Drogo to regain the Iron Throne for her Son. So after we probably found out where she learned that skill, her only political skill, now we should look how she uses it.

As I already mentioned her first Speech is at the funeral fire of her Husband, and I mentioned a Pattern she uses. The Pattern is actually very simple she addresses her Audience, says something about the Topic of her Speech, then she introduces herself and after that she threatens someone. But most of the Time it isn’t the Audience she threatens, most of the Time it is a third Party. And sometimes she makes promises, that she can’t live up to these promises is better portrayed in the Books, then in the Show.

Even if she varies in the Order of her Speech, the parts are always the same. In her first Speech she promises the People who stay with her, that she will kill their Enemies and that they will die screaming, here is the Quote:

_„I swear to you, that those who will wrong you will die screaming.“_ — Daenerys, Season 1 Episode 10.

At that Moment this is a Threat to Miri Maaz Duur, who she blames for the Death of her Husband. But actually Miri did, what Daenerys wanted her to do, she saved Drogos Life, but nothing more, his soul and Spirit were never Part of that agreement. In Fact Daenerys killed Drogo herself, because she realized that this is no way of Life and because medicide is not part of this review, I won’t go any further about that Topic, she did it, and that’s a fact.

Now to her Threat against Miri, although I doubt she heard it.

_„You will not hear me scream!“_

_„I will. Which is not your screams I want, only your life.“_ — Daenerys Season 1, Episode 10.

In the Books she sacrifices Miri Maaz Duur, because she had a Dream how she could hatch her three Dragon Eggs. That’s not in the Show, but because of the circumstances nobody questioned why Daenerys killed her by burning her alive.

Not ever follows her Threatening an action, for example: in Quarth she threatens the thirteen.

_„Turn us away, and we will burn you first.“_ — Daenerys Season 2, Episode 4.

Here she never fulfilled her Threat, but nonetheless, she brought a lot of chaos to that City, mostly because the People wanted her and her Dragons, because everyone knew that her Dragons are a power Source. Which led to their kidnapping by a Warlock. That led to the fact that her Host killed the thirteen and made himself the King of Quarth.

Here some other Threats, which I want to mention:

_„And I bring your Enemies, what they Deserve.“_ — Season 4, Episode 4.

_„A citizen of Meereen was awaiting trial and this Man murdered him. The punishment is death.“_ —Season 5, Episode 2.

_„You’re not going to serve. You’re going to die.“_ — Season 6, Episode 4.

_„Together, we will leave the World a better place than we found it or refuse and die.“_ —Season 7, Episode 5.

All these Threats were fulfilled, she killed 163 Masters without a Trial, without a second thought. Also, she killed Mossador without a Trial, not to mention why she killed the Khals and the Tarlys, like it or not, that’s not the behaviour of a Hero. And Daenerys does make a lot of Speeches, which are not Heroic ones. The Speech of a Hero is different from Daenerys’s Speeches in one very important Point. Which she also uses regularly, she separates herself from the crowd. But that’s not what a Hero-Speech is meant to be. In Heroic Speeches in Cinema the Hero never separates him- or herself from the crowd, they describe themselves as part of it. Like Mel Gibson as William Wallace did in Braveheart, he describes his Audience as „them“, in the beginning, because they didn’t decide to follow him in this War, they followed their Leaders. At the End of his Speech he is talking about „Us“ he sees himself as a Part of this Army who will or will not survive this Battle. Something that Aragon also does, in his Speech before the Gates of Mordor.

That this Part, the creation of a feeling that the Leader is part of the normal Soldiers and could also die in that Battle, is an important Part of these Speeches, becomes obvious, when you compare the Speech which Cate Blanchett gives as Elizabeth Tudor in: „Elizabeth: The Golden Age“ to the actual Speech of Elizabeth Tudor from 1588, which is passed down. The Parts where Cate Blanchett describes Elizabeth as a Part of the Army, a Soldier who is willing to die for what she believes, is not part of the actual historical Speech, it was created by Michael Hirst and William Nicholson who wrote the script, so that the General Audience of our modern Age can understand how that Speech inspired the actual Soldiers of 1588.

The ONE Time when Daenerys uses that Part of the Speech it is not used as it is supposed to be. It is her Speech to the Lannister Soldiers, unfortunately her Speech and her Promise is destroyed by her Actions, when she kills Randyll Tarly with Dragonfire. Before we come to that, I want to finish showing that she know how to use Speeches to her favour, most of the time she can’t live up to her Promises she makes in that Speeches, but that’s a different topic.

In all of her Speeches she is able to achieve the Point, which presents her Person as some kind of Saviour, someone who is necessary to achieve a certain Goal. That Part is very prominent in her Speech to the Slaves of Meereen.

_„First, I went to Astapor. Those who were slaves in Astapor, now stand behind me, free. Next, I went to Yunkai. Those who were slaves in Yunkai, now stand behind me, free.“_ — Daenerys Season 4, Episode 3.

As I mentioned before, she actually did accomplish these goals because she had the numbers. In both Cases, she uses brutal force. In the Case of Astapor, she uses her Slaves. She freed them AFTER they killed the Masters and destroyed Astapor, not before. The Unsullied follow her because they believe in her. Because they are free because of her, at least in their Opinion, but they are brainwashed Child-Soldiers and in some way, they’re still slaves. They chose their Leader, but every kind of unpaid employment is in some Way Slavery, Thralls also work for their Landlord unpaid and Thralls exist in Westeros. Nowhere it is mentioned that Daenerys pays her Unsullied, it is also not mentioned how she pays the Mercenaries, who work for her, but mercenaries have their Ways to get their Money, if they need to do it, they plunder.

The Unsullied only do as they are told, means they probably only plunder if they are told to do it. Money and how to get Money is a much bigger Issue in the Books then in the Show and actually it is something Daenerys thinks as well. In „A Storm of Swords“ she allows every Man and Woman to sell themselves back into Slavery and demands a Part of the Price which is paid for the Slave for herself. Furthermore, it is mentioned in „A Dance with Dragons“ that she has not the Money to pay a Man who works on the Fields for her, when asked how he is paid, Daenerys says that she can only give this Man shelter and Food, which is exactly the same payment Thralls get from their Landlords.

So Daenerys speeches are very good, because she gets what she wants with these Speeches, but she can’t live up to those Speeches, she fails in doing so and specially her Quest for Abolition fails because she only replaces one kind of Slavery, with another.

That she lacks in the execution of her great Plans, is actually part of her Speeches too, because she rarely mentions how she wants to accomplish her Goals. That’s something Cersei and Jon do. In Season 7 Episode 1 Jon explains to the Lords of the North what they need to fight the Army of the Dead, he mentions Dragonglass and that they need to man the Wall. He also says that they must educate their Children, Boys and Girls, in fighting Skills.

Cersei mentions in her Speech to the Lords of Westeros, that they must stand together and fight together if they want to defeat their Way of Life against Daenerys and her savage Army.

_„If the Mad Kings Daughter takes the Iron Throne she’ll destroy the realm as we know it. Some of you are Bannermen of House Tyrell, but House Tyrell is in an open Rebellion against the Crown. With their Help the Mad Kings Daughter has ferried an army of Savages to our shores. Mindless Unsullied Soldiers who will destroy your castles and your Holdfasts. Dothraki heathens who will burn your villages to the ground, rape and enslave your women and butcher your children, without a second thought.“_ — Cersei, Season 7 Episode 2.

This is how Cersei describes Daenerys Army and when she describes Daenerys herself she actually doesn’t lie.

_„[...]his daughter is no different in Essos her brutality is already legendary. She crucified hundreds of noblemen in Slavers Bay and when she grew bored of that, she fed them to her Dragons.“_ — Cersei Season 7, Episode 2.

Daenerys did all of that and now she repeats that behaviour in Westeros and I doubt that this will be result to her advantage to become Queen. She killed already hundreds of Soldiers, in the Field of Fire in Season 7 Episode 4. One Episode later she killed two Men from Westeros Nobility because they refused to kneel. So in the Eyes of the People of Westeros, they get one pyromaniac Tyrant in exchange for another. Cersei is not better than Daenerys, she just doesn’t have fire-breathing Dragons.

But Daenerys doesn’t mention to her new Subjects what she wants to change or how she plans to change that, she just mentions that:

_„I offer you a choice bend the knee and join me. Together, we will leave the World a better place than we found it or refuse and die.“_ — Daenerys Season 7, Episode 5.

And since the Day when Daenerys woke the Dragons from the Stone, she always thought of burning someone or something. Actually she always thinks about killing the Persons who don’t agree with her. When she was in Essos and all Persons she burnt were from the Viewers Perspective portrait as evil, Daenerys was easily the Hero. But now she brought the Dothraki to Westeros and it seems that she left a Part of her Khalassar in the Reach, without any kind of Control that they won’t plunder, rape, kill and burn anything around them. Furthermore, she kills People herself by burning them alive. Given Randyll Tarly was a horrible Father for Samwell Tarly, but all he did was to refuse to kneel.

Another Problem in Westeros is, that not all the Old People are dead already, some People who lived during Aerys reign remember him and how he brought terror to the Country. His popular Crimes are remembered and Daenerys repeats them, burning the Tarlys, which were War-Prisoners, will be one of the Crimes Daenerys will be remembered for. And unlike her Khalassar, the Westerosi-Soldiers don’t admire that kind of Power, they shrink back from that sort of Power.

For the Soldiers who witnessed the Death of the Tarlys Daenerys is nothing more than a new Tyrant just like Cersei. And unlike the Unsullied and Dothraki who chose Daenerys and followed her to Westeros, they only chose to live the next Day, if they are to frighten by the Army of the Dead, they will desert and run back Home. In Season 7 Episode 1 we saw Arya met some Soldiers of the Lannister Army, and we saw normal People who had to follow the Orders of their Lord. The Reason we saw that Scene was simple, that we see the other Side of the Army, specially the normal Soldiers, who never really wanted to serve as Soldiers, but were forced to do so, first by their Landlord and now by a foreign Queen.

Daenerys Power is the Reason the Dothraki follow and obey her. And here we should remember why Khal Drogo died. He died because one of his Man challenged him after Daenerys wanted to claim all Women which lived in the Village which was attacked by Drogo’s Khalassar, to obtain financial gain for Daenerys’ conquest of the Seven Kingdoms. And there she has doubts about the Way of the Dothraki, but after her Essos-Arc it seems she is okay with the Way of Life of the Dothraki.

It is true Daenerys only accepted Yara Greyjoys Terms for an Alliance, if she stops the Iron Born from reaving, groving, raiding or raping. But the Iron Born are a group of People who live on some Islands within spitting distance to the Seven Kingdoms. The Dothraki live in Essos and their Families are still living there, specially the Women and Children who are still in Vaes Dothrak without any Person who provides them with Food from Hunting or raid Villages and without any skills for farming. So the Dothraki Women need their Men and I think it was Daenerys Plan to send them Back after her Conquest was over, and she sat on the Iron Throne. Unfortunately that Plan seems to changed now, she left a great Part of her Khalassar without any possibility to control them, in the Reach. So I think it is not that far-fetched if we think that this Khalassar will raid and plunder Villages, rape and kill the People who live there and burning their Homes. I don’t expect that this fact will be acknowledged in any Way on the Screen, because we have only 6 Episodes left, but I wish it would be mentioned that no one wants to help Daenerys because they change one evil for another, in the Eyes of the Westerosi People.

And they would be right because Daenerys Plans always include her Family-Words: „Fire and Blood.“ Since she came to Qarth her Plans never did change. It always includes someone is burned. Here are her Words when she came to Qarth.

_„13! When my Dragons are grown, we will take back what was stolen from me and destroy those who have wronged me. We will lay waste to armies and burn Cities to the Ground. Turn us away, and we will burn you first.“_ — Daenerys, Season 2, Episode 4.

She burned Astapor and killed every Master, which is nothing else than „Fire and Blood“. When she arrived in Yunkai, the only Reason she didn’t burn it, is because Daario Naharis talked her out of it and gave her a better Option. But when Daenerys heard that the Masters of Yunkai went back to their old Way of Life her first Plan looked like this:

_„I could never have faith in a Man like Daario. That’s why I’ve sent him and the second Sons to retake Yunkai.“_  
 _„You have?“_  
 _„I have.“_  
 _„Without you there to rule khaleesi, I fear the Masters will simply bide their time. Wait for the Invaders to leave and reassert control.“_  
 _„That is why I ordered Daario to execute every Master in Yunkai.“_ — Daenerys and Jorah, Season 4 Episode 7.

In Season 5 she mentioned to her newly wedded husband in the Arena, that she would turn the great City of Meereen to the dirt. It was when they talked about the fighting Pits and what happened there. The Circumstances in that Discussion was about a horrible tradition in Meereen but nonetheless she talked about burning a City again and when she returned to Meereen in Season 6 she talked again about burning People and this time Ships.

_„I will crucify the Masters, I will set their fleets of fire, kill every last one of their Soldiers and return their Cities to the dirt, that is my Plan.“_ — Daenerys, Season 6 Episode 9.

Since Daenerys took control over her fate and Life her first intention and solution always includes Fire and Blood. But we know that’s not how you solve Problems, specially not in that fictional World, that hole Mess started when Joffrey sentenced Eddard Stark to death. And Daenerys won’t be more successful than Joffrey if she kills everyone who has a different Opinion than her.

Her Speeches illustrate one fundamental Problem, that Daenerys has in general when it comes to ruling: She never thinks things through. She only thinks about HOW she can conquer the Iron Throne, not how she can make the World a better Place. She only thinks about who is her Enemy and how she can kill them, but how she can rebuild a Country that she will probably totally destroy with her Conquest, is nothing she worries about. That she only thinks one Problem after another is also pictured when she burns the Wagons with Food in Season 7 Episode 4. All she thinks about is: That Cersei and her Army doesn’t get that Food, she doesn’t think about who will need that Food beside Cerseis Army or beside her own Army. As we already saw, most of the Soldiers in that Army are Thralls, People who live and die at the Command of their King or Queen or Landlord, like the Slaves did in Essos under their Masters.

So this Food is not only for Cerseis Soldiers, it is also for their Families. Because Barracks like we know them today didn’t exist in Middle Ages. Normal Soldiers slept everywhere, under the Sky, in tents, in barns or stables and normally when they worked at Castles they slept in the next City where they lived with their Families. So what they got as Food in the Castle normally found a Way to the Family of that Soldier. It was not allowed, but they did it anyway. Rules never stopped People from committing Crimes, and taking Food from the Table of another Person is called: stealing.

So Daenerys burned Food that could have been useful for a lot of People in Kings Landing, not only Cerseis Army. And Winter has arrived in Westeros, so Food is an invaluable good. So Daenerys way of fighting in this War, with Fire and Blood, will now be the cause of a great Hunger crises. This is also something she will also be remembered for and it is another Crime, against humanity. If Daenerys really wanted the Food, she would have let her Dothraki kill the Soldiers and would have taken the Food for herself, instead she burned it all. Her way of not thinking things through, attacking without any thoughts about what comes next, will be her undoing.

Daenerys learned from her Brother how to make a Speech. The Person the Audience only knows as selfish, cruel and abusive. The Man who threatened to kill an unborn Child in his Sisters womb. I doubt that this is a good thing, because his way of Storytelling is not the only thing Daenerys adopted, also his cruel Nature. When Things didn’t work the Way Viserys wanted them to happen he was cruel against his little Sister, the only Person who was weaker than he. With Daenerys it is a bit different, because of her Dragons everyone is weaker than she is. That reflects in her Speeches when she threatens her enemies without thinking about it.

All her Speeches involve the Message: Join me or die! That’s traditionally a message used by antagonists in Films. The quite recently Antagonistic Speech I could found is from „The Crimes of Grindelwald“

_„Aurors, join me in this Circle, pledge to me your eternal allegiance, or die.“_ – Gellert Grindelwald, „The Crimes of Grindelwald“ by J. K. Rowling.

An older Quote comes from Darth Vader from „The Empire strikes Back“ when he speaks to the Emporer:

_„He will join us or die, my Master!“_ – Darth Vader, „The Empire strikes Back“ by Lawrence Kasdan.

Or in „Queen of the Damned“ or „The Shadow“ from 1994 where the Antagonists ask the same Question, the List could be go on and it was always the Antagonist who thinks in absolutes. And Daenerys uses this Phrase since Season One in many Variations.

So it should be obvious, although Daenerys is visually portrayed as a Hero, she is not a Hero for everybody and specially not for the Westerosi. Her Speeches are not Heroic, they are antagonistic. Her behaviour is that of a Conqueror, not a wise and noble Queen. She is in some Way a Villain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will include a Comparison between Daenerys and some Television and Movie female Villains to show how special Daenerys is. It was not included in my German Version but since then MANY Fans told me how wrong I am because Daenerys is not unique as a independend female Villain. She is, and I will show you in the next Chapter.


	8. Comparisons from Fiction

As I already highlighted Daenerys Speeches portray her as a Villain, not to everybody. Until a certain Point she was a Hero for the Slaves of Essos, she freed them from the Masters. But then her own behaviour backfires, when she executed Massador without a Trial and in Public. That the former Slaves started to questioning Daenerys as their Queen, is the result for that behaviour.

So Daenerys is power hungry, manipulative and targeted, she knows what she wants, and she won’t let anything come in the Way between her and her Goal. And her Goal is the Iron Throne.

There are many female Antagonists or female Villains in Film, Television and Books, but Daenerys is unique. There are only two female Characters who are comparable to her, as far as I know.

So I will show you a few Antagonistic Women from Movies, Television and Comics. Sometimes they are not so well-established, like Daenerys and sometimes they are totally focused on male Characters.

Let’s start with the ONE female Villain I accept as a good comparison to Daenerys and that’s Ursula the Sea Witch from Disneys „The Little Mermaid“-Movie. I was insecure to compare Ursula with Daenerys because the origin of Ursula, the unnamed Sea Witch in Hans-Christian Andersen’s Fairy Tale. In the Original Fairy Tale the Sea Witch is not a Villain she is just the only possible Way for the little Mermaid to become a Human. But Disney’s Version of the Sea Witch is a Villain, and she wants to rule the Sea. Just like Daenerys want’s to rule the Seven Kingdoms.

So go on to other antagonistic female Characters and let’s start with a very famous one. Cathrine Tramell from Basic Instinct, she is indeed a very famous female Antagonist, but I wouldn’t compare her to Daenerys. Because Cathrine Tramell has not a higher Goal, she doesn’t want achieve anything with her murders, she either just does it to manipulate the Case against her or her surroundings in her favour. She doesn’t want to advertise her Books, at least not in general, her murders have different Motives and not only one. All what Daenerys does, is to achieve one Goal and that’s the Iron Throne. Although Cathrine Tramell is independent she has no compassion for anyone, Daenerys on the other Hand can be compassionate. But unlike Cathrine Tramell she loses it, every Season a little more. When she started as a Woman who has compassion for the female Victims of the Village Drogo and his khalassar attack, her compassion is forgotten when left her khalassar in the Reach where they possibly started to live like they always did, which includes attack Villages, raping Women, destroy Houses and kill Men.

We should not forget that’s what she asked her Khalassar to do for her, when she announced her hole Khalassar as her Bloodriders.

_„Will you ride the wooden Horses across the black Salt Sea? Will you kill my Enemies in their Iron suits and tear down their stone houses? Will you give me the seven Kingdoms, the Gift Khal Drogo promised me before the Mother of Mountains?“ –_ Daenerys Season 6, Episode 6.

So Daenerys is not like Cathrine Tramell, who is more of a female Villain with an antisocial personality Disorder and not a female Character with a downward Character development to lose her compassion, which she had at the beginning in the Story.

The next is Nurse Ratchett from _„One flew over the Cuckoos Nest“_ She is the head administrative nurse, and she is abusing her Power against the ones who she should care for. In some way she is more like Daenerys than Cathrine Tramell. Both Dany and Nurse Ratchett abuse the Power they have and pretend to help People, although only Nurse Ratchett does it on Purpose, Daenerys has a twisted understanding of how to be a good Queen and doesn’t realize what she does to others. But Ratchett is in Power over mentally ill Characters or People who pretend to be mentally ill. She is a Nurse and not a Politician, she doesn’t want Power like Daenerys, she has all the Power she wants and loses it during the Film because of one of her Patients.

Daenerys really wants to help People but during the Series she looses more and more her Humanity, again a trait Ratchett doesn’t have, which is a Reason that she becomes like Nurse Ratchett.

The last Person I want to compare with Daenerys is: Cersei Lannister.  
Like Cersei Daenerys is forced to marry a total Stranger for Political Reasons, by her superior male relative. The Fact that Daenerys and Drogo fall in Love with each other is a minor difference, because in the End, Daenerys kills Drogo just like Cersei killed Robert.

Both Women kill People with Fire and both destroyed a Temple with Fire and got more Power from that Move. Daenerys burned the Temple of the Dosh Khaleen with all the Khals in it and became the Khal of Khals who would unite all khalassars into one, with other Words she became the Stallion who mounts the World. Which is a Heroic Figure to the Dothraki, but what it does mean for other People said Miri Maaz Duur.

_„Innocent? He would have been the stallion who mounts the World. Now he will burn no cities, now his khalassar will trample no nations into dust!“ –_ Miri Maaz Duur, Season 1, Episode 10.

So the stallion who mounts the World isn’t a positive Figure in general, it is good for the Dothraki.  
Cersei uses Wildfire to blow up the Sept of Baelor, with that Move she killed all of her Enemies. After that her Son commits suicide and Cersei becomes Queen. It looks like everybody knows or suspects that Cersei is probably behind that explosion, because in Season 7 Hot Pie tells Arya so in the Inn at the Crossroads.

_„Heard she blew up the great Sept. That must have been something to see. BOOM Can’t believe someone would do that.“ –_ Hot Pie Season 7, Episode 2.

So Daenerys and Cersei both kill their Adversaries in the same Season with Fire.

Both Women use Man for their amusement. Cersei did so with Lancel during Season 2 and Daeny with Daario from Season 4 to 5. Both use Man to accomplish what they want and normally it backfires on them. When Daenerys marries Hizdahr zo Loraq neither did it stopped the Harpies, nor did it change the perspective of the People in Slavers Bay about Slave trade in general.

When Cersei gave the high Sparrow power, she did it because he promised to annul the debts which the Crown had to the Faith, and she hoped to defeat her enemies, like the Tyrells and her Uncle. But he imprisoned Cersei and punished her, with the Walk of shame.  
So both underestimate Men occasionally.

Both want Power, one because she thinks it is her Birthright and wants to reclaim the Throne which belonged to her Ancestors. The other one because she wants to prove to the World that a Woman can rule, as good as any Man. You can argue that Cersei can’t rule at all, but that’s not the Point in Cersei’s Character-Arc. Since her Childhood she envied her Brother Jaime his birthright, she was born first, but because she is a girl she can’t inherit Casterly Rock and her Father only saw her as a chess piece for his own political ambitions. So with Cersei it is a long Story of jealousy and sexism. With Daenerys it is a little different, because at the beginning she searches a Home, a Place where she feels safe and beloved. But when she married Khal Drogo and got pregnant, she had a Home, in her khalassar and didn’t realize it. Because she thought her Home is Westeros and with that Home would come the responsibility of the Iron Throne.

But as Tyrion says during his Journey with Jorah:

_„Du you believe in anything?“_  
_„I believe in lots of things.“_  
_„Something greater than ourselves I mean. The Gods! Destiny! Do you believe there’s a Plan for this World?“_  
_„No!“_  
_„Neither did I. I was a cynic, just like you. Then I saw a girl step into a fire with three stone eggs. When the fire burnt out, I thought I find her blackened Bones. Instead, I saw her, Daenerys, alive and unhurt, holding her baby dragons. Did you ever heard Baby dragons singing?“_  
_„No.“_  
_„It’s hard to be a Cynic after that.“_  
_„Doesn’t mean she is going to be a great Queen.“_  
_„No, it doesn’t.“ –_ Tyrion and Jorah, Season 5, Episode 6.

  
After that Tyrion questions Jorahs trust in Daenerys, he asks what will happen after Daenerys is the Ruler. He mentions that the Targaryens are famous for being insane, that Daenerys never spent a Day in her adult life in Westeros and it wouldn’t be justice if she became the Ruler and the only answer, Jorah has is:

_„She is the Rightful heir.“_  
_„Why? Because her father, who burned living Men for amusement, was the King?“–_ Tyrion and Jorah, Season 5, Episode 6.

This is actually another parallel between Cersei and Daenerys, but not as Characters, more in her Arcs, both claim the Throne because a Familymember was King before them.

So Cersei and Daenerys have more in Common, than Sansa and Daenerys. With Sansa, Daenerys is closer in Age, both were forced to marry Men who ended up to kill their Family, although Tyrion wasn’t directly involved it is clear that he was on the Side of his Family, therefore he had nearly to no Problem with the red Wedding. So for Sansa the Lannisters are those who killed her Family and Tyrion is one of them. And she was forced to marry him.  
And there is nothing more, that Sansa and Daenerys have in Common.

Daenerys thinks she is some kind of saviour, she didn’t start that way, in Season 1, but she slowly developed it through the Seasons. And that she thinks like that can be dangerous at the battlefield. When you think you are invincible, that leads into making mistakes and on a Battlefield that is dangerous, because most of them result in death.


	9. Historical Comparisons

Once George R. R. Martin said that Britain’s History was a great Inspiration for him. His War of the five Kings is loosely based on the War of the Roses. That’s why many Fans tried to compare the historical figures of that Time, to the Characters of Martins Story. That could be the Reason why Daenerys is compared to Henry VII. But between Daenerys and Henry VII are more differences than similarities. As I said before Daenerys is no Diplomat, her Solutions always involve Fire and Blood, she is no Politician or a Woman who economizes.

But Henry VII. was all of that. He was a politician, he married a Woman in Order to restore Peace in Great Britain. He reformed the Tax system and restored the finances of his Kingdom, partially with a Peace treaty, which also stabilized the Peace to Great Britain next neighbor, France. He paid the Lords who wanted to rebel against his Reign, in Order to prevent a new big Conflict. If anything, Henry VII. was not a Conqueror or a military leader, his battles were won by his Generals or his Uncle Jasper Tudor. He didn’t want to fight and it looks like that it was only the last Option for him, otherwise Daenerys, whose first Option is always a Fight.

So in my Opinion Daenerys Targaryen is not based by the inspiration of one historical Figure, more likely it is based on more than one. Now I want to show you three historical Figures I could imagine as some inspiration for Daenerys Targaryens Character-Arc.  
I am sure there are more than three possible inspirations, GRRM could have used for Daenerys, but I thought of these three:

  1. Maximilien de Robespierre
  2. Josef Wissarionowitsch Stalin
  3. Mao Zedong



All of these three historical Figures tried to lead their People into a new Era, all of them tried it with violence and today we criticize them. But they were Heroes until a Certain Point of History, where their Violence transformed their Leadership into a despotic Regime. All three came from Middle-class relations. None of them had a royal or noble lineage, like Daenerys, but all of them came from nearly nothing, in their Time they were not part of the High Society, they had more than Daenerys, but less than any noble or Royal Person in Westeros or real historical Nobility.

Let’s Start with the Oldest of the three, Maximilien de Robespierre. He lived from 1758 to 1794, he is one of the Figures during the French Revolution. He was an Advocate and a Politician with a Vision, inspired and influenced by the philosophical Ideas of Jean Jacques Rousseau and Montesquieu.  
But most People don’t know that he was death penalty opponent. He militated against it, openly in the National assembly. He tried to stop slavery in the French Colonies, and he tried to transfer the freedom of the Press into the Charter of basic Rights.

He had always an extreme World View. And his descent from a Hero to the Blood judge of French Revolution began with his appointment into the Committee of Public Safety 1793. He killed everyone who didn’t agree with his Vision of a new France, nobody was safe, he arrested Politicians and Civilians, from Georges Daton to Olympe de Gouges. In Robespierres mind everyone who didn’t agree with him, was an enemy of the Revolution and had to be killed.  
The same way of thinking we can find in Daenerys and Cersei. Cersei told her Son Joffrey in Season 1:

_„Everyone who isn’t us, is an Enemy.“_ — Cersei Season1, Episode 3.

But we can find an equivalent statement from Daenerys as well. To be precisely in Season 4, Episode 7 Daenerys tells Jorah that Hizdahr zo Loraq will accompany the Second Son’s to retake Yunkai. Here is what she said:

_„He will accompany the second Sons and serve as my ambassador to Yunkai. He will tell the Masters what has happened in Meereen. He will explain the Choice they have before them: They can live in my new World, or they can die in their old one.“_ — Daenerys Season 4, Episode 7.

And in Season 7 she repeats that Statement when she said:

_„I offer you a choice bend the knee and join me. Together, we will leave the World a better place than we found it or refuse and die.“_ — Daenerys Season 7, Episode 5.

Until today, we don’t know exactly how to judge Robespierre, no one knows how the Situation was back at that Time. Maybe he abused his Power for political and personal reasons, but no one knows for sure.

But it is a Fact that he killed nearly 3000 People, some wanted a Change, like Olympe de Gouges, who only wrote in a statement, that Women should be allowed to have the same rights as Men. Some People just thought that the Revolution started with good intentions and became a Regime of Terror, which should be stopped, like Georges Danton. And some were just Nobles who were unlucky.

Robespierre had Ideals, Visions and good intentions, but he didn’t think about what would come next, after the Monarchy was destroyed and France a Republic. He tried to make his Vision reality with terror and violence, and he failed. Because the National Convention wanted to stop the Terror and ordered the imprisonment of Robespierre and his followers. The Rules they had established about how to treat Suspects were now used against them. Although they tried to escape, ultimately they were captured and sentenced to Death.

Robespierre left some of his Writings, we have some statements of contemporary witnesses and some recorded Speeches from the National Convention, all show Robespierre as a brilliant Speaker and a Man who wasn’t crazy. In my Opinion he had good intentions and tried to move his Ideas with all means.

Now lets move on to the next Figure, Josef Wissarionowitsch Stalin. Lately Stalin and his reign are getting a review by the Russians and unfortunately some of the Russian People think he is a Hero. Which isn’t untrue, it depends on you and what of his actions are the more serious matter for you. The rest of the World only knows what horrible things he did, but when you watch from the inside, from the Perspective of a Russian, not everything was bad.  
Specially when you think of his origin. He was born in Gori, his Mother was a former Thrall and his Father a shoemaker. They weren’t rich and the Father left the Family in 1888. His Mother worked very hard so that her Son could go to School, she wanted that her Son would become a Priest. Stalin left School as one of the best Pupils and got a scholarship for the Seminary in Tiflis.

But instead of becoming a Priest, he came into Contact with Communistic Writings and Marxian circles, in the End he became a Revolutionist. In the name of the Revolution he killed People, robbed Banks and organized strikes. After Lenin and his Party came to Power he started to expand his own political position. And some of his first mistakes and misdoings was to arrest and kill military Officers who served under the tsar and later his own Officers, because he thought they were plotting against him. If that is true or not, nobody can say for sure because most of these suspects were sentenced to death or condemned to hard Labor in Show Trials. Stalin did the same with party members he thought as dangerous for his Position, but these Party members didn’t become important when the Germans broke the Molotow-Ribbentropp Pact.

When Germany attacked the Soviet Union 1941, Stalin announced himself as the Supreme Commander of the armed Forces. But Stalin never fought in a War and had no idea how to lead an Army into Battle. Because of his purge, he had no experienced Officers in the Army and his own Orders were so meaningless that some of his own Military Leaders ignored some of his Orders, although they knew what that meant for them. After Stalins Death, one of his Marshalls said in private that they sacrificed many soldiers lives pointlessly.

Daenerys lead her Dothraki into Battle, but she is not a strategist. She won’t plan a Battle, which will be necessary, because if she fights brute force with brute Force she will lose the Battle. Furthermore, she killed Randyll Tarly, Samwell Tarlys Father who was mentioned at different times, as one of THE best Battle Commanders in Westeros. Even Tyrion was against Randylls „execution“ because he knew he would be useful. And the Army of the Dead outnumbers the Army of Man, you have to fight strategically, only then they will win the Battle. And we saw how Daenerys acts when a strategy doesn’t work, she goes with brute Force, which worked at Season 7, Episode 4 „The Spoils of War“ But not when every dead Soldier on your own Side stands up again and begins to fight for your enemy.

Sure Daenerys has Jon, Jorah and Tyrion on her Side, but all of them are not excellent Strategists or fail in the execution of said Strategy. Jaime could be a solution, but the Question is, will Daenerys accept his Help, I think she has no other Option, she herself killed the best Military Man in Westeros for that Problem, now she has to work with what is left.

But besides that Problem, there is another one with the burning of the Tarlys. She kills them in front of his Men. These Man may now fear Daenerys and follow her just to life another Day, but that’s part of the Problem. When it comes to the fight against the White Walker, what do you think these Man will do? Will they stand together with the Unsullied and fight against the Army of the Dead? Or do you think they will run away as fast as possible, back Home to their Families? Daenerys forced them to bend the knee, she used a very old and horrible strategy, which today is seen as a Maxim of Terror:

_„Kill one terrify a thousand“_

It is an old Chinese proverb, probably from Sunzi who wrote the oldest Book about War strategy that exists until today. But Sunzi also said this:

_„To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.“_

Daenerys never won any Battle without fighting, because that’s simple not her Way. Her solution is always fighting, but that doesn’t rebuild a Nation which is now destroyed after dozens of Battles, that doesn’t feed people whose Food is burned by her Dragon. And it doesn’t make her any different from all the tyrants of the like of Cersei Lannister.

So even if Daenerys wants to break the Wheel, it is not the Wheel her Ancestor built, she uses that Wheel in Order to conquer, what she thinks should be her property, the seven Kingdoms and the Iron Throne. But instead she breaks the actual Wheel where Cersei sits on the Iron throne and wants to replace it with the same Wheel, just with her on the Iron Throne. So Daenerys isn’t any different from other tyrant’s. Not even that one’s we had in our real History, just like Stalin Daenerys doesn’t trust her Advisors, she said it herself in Season 7 to Varys in Episode 2 and to Tyrion in Episode 4. In the Books it is even more obvious that she is distrustful, because of her paranoia that every Man wants either to use her or betray her. She uses fear and terror to subdue Westeros’s People and only trusts People who follow her blindly, without any second Thought that her Actions could harm innocent People.

The last Man I want to compare Daenerys to, is Mao Zedong. He was the Leader of China between 1943 and 1976. He founded the People’s Republic. But he was born as the Son of a wealthy Farmer, at least his Family was wealthy in the Context of the Society when he grew up.  
After he became the Leader of China he started to create a Cult around his Person so that People would love him. Stalin knew that the People didn’t love him, but tried to suppress the People with terror and fear, from the beginning, Mao tried to do it differently.

A good example about how Mao tried to do that, is the „Hundred Flowers Campaign“ a Campaign that was created by Mao, because he wanted a base for critical response and to find new Ideas or suggestions from the People. Unfortunately when the Press realized that they could write what they wanted, without censorship, Mao’s reign was highly criticized. But Mao couldn’t deal with that and that led to the instant dismissal of hundreds of these People. They were replaced with other People whose politics were more compliant to Maos thinking, but less capable of doing these Jobs; the Result was misgovernment and mismanagement.

And now we come to a point which is very important about the upcoming Season and I don’t mean the next Episodes, I mean: Winter!

Stalin and Mao both had a time of mismanagement, a time when they both tried to reorganize the Agriculture of their Countries. Both of them planned to transform their Countries from an agrarian state to an industrial nation. Both tried this by reorganizing the economy, which meant in this case, that every useful agricultural area was now the property of the Communes and no Farmer had Fields for their personal use. They planned with specific outcomes in Agrarian economy, but unfortunately that’s not how Agriculture works. You can plan that only to a certain outcome, because you don’t know how the Weather will be, which natural disasters will happen and so on. In Order to change their Country they needed to make Money and the only things Stalin and Mao could sell in the beginning of their Reign were Agricultural products, but because they couldn’t plan the Outcome of that Products like a Factory Product, the result was a great hunger crisis.  
At least Mao didn’t want that, he just was not a farmer, he didn’t understood that his Plans couldn’t work the way he wanted and his Government was full of incompetent People with high hopes.

So both Stalin and Mao had good intentions and both were ruthless enough to walk over dead Bodies to make their dreams come true. They also brought some good things to their Countries like compulsory education, irrigation systems, electricity for the private Households and water for domestic Use. Their reign wasn’t all bad, just the most of it.

Daenerys is not a bad Person, she is just a bad ruler. That’s obvious when she reacts to the News that she lost her last ally in Westeros, Lady Olenna. She insults Varys and Tyrion for these defeats, but they were not responsible for that, well not totally. Jaime was just the better military Man and Tyrion underestimated him.  
But how Daenerys reacts is the true Problem, because she decides, that if she can’t feed her Army, Cersei should neither. But that Food was supposed to be in Kings Landing and somehow the People of Kings Landing would have had benefit from that. In her short term thinking Daenerys destroys all the Food. And we have Winter! There won’t be any Food on Fields and Trees now. Jon talked her out of the Attack of Kings Landing, in the End he didn’t achieve what I think he had actually in Mind. He didn’t want her Dragons to attack the living, which also implies he didn’t want her to attack that Wagons with Food. Because now not only a Million Civilians in Kings Landing die, Daenerys accepted an inevitable Hunger crisis, with far more than only a Million Civilian deaths, just because she wanted to take the advantage of that Food away from Cersei. She said she wouldn’t be Queen of the Ashes, but she herself made sure that she would become exactly that.  
In Conclusion, you can see that Daenerys shares a lot of abilities with these historical Figures. All three started as Men with good intentions and became corrupted by the Power they got. They became Despots and killed more People than anyone could have imagined, not with War or rebellion, but with their good intentions, with the Visions they wanted to make reality for their Countries.

Daenerys wants to break the Wheel, which her Ancestor built, but at the Moment she uses that Wheel, by more than one Occasion. She doesn’t think about the Civilians, she only thinks about the Iron Throne and how she can take it. Now it doesn’t matter any longer that she maybe will kill more than a thousand of innocent People, because she came to the decision that it may be necessary. Like she said in Season 7 Episode 6:

_„Which War is won without deceit and Mass Murder?“_

She got a Point, but as Sunzi said:

_„To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.“_

And I doubt that she or anyone in her Council has that acme of Strategy skills.


End file.
